The Agony in the Garden

Catholic presentation

The first sorrowful mystery

The Apostles, the 'fishermen of men' are lined up here like fish on a plate.  And so they must be, for it is only by Jesus' corageous actions that they will be saved.  They will play no direct part in the work of salvation - to be offerred to the whole world.  It will be all down to Him.  The weight of such responsibility would crush many, but as if to make matters worse, God has pitched success on a multitude of fine lines, all of which seem to be stretched to breaking point.  There are too many to count, so let's just look at few:

• Jesus is invited to suffer excruciating pain.  But as God, is free to say no, not only now in the garden but at any and every point of his coming way of the cross!
• After He dies, the only people remaining to carry forward God's plan, are the sleeping clueless fishermen.  And they're supposed to carry the faith to the ends of the earth?  How clever is that!
• He is to suffer and die, simply to offer salvation to those who don't deserve it.  Even to the likes of: murderers, rapists, abusers and mass killers!
• But worst of all, He knows there will be those in future, who will know and understand all that He set out to do, and simply not care enough to give a practical 'yes' to Jesus.  He later tells the humbe Sr. Faustyna that this was for Him, in the Garden depicted here, the most agonising of all human attitudes.  It belongs to those Catholics he calls 'luke-warm'.  In His eyes, they would assert His suffering and death were pointless.

As if to drive the message home, here comes Judas.  The artist portrays him diabolically red-faced, clutching his silver 'reward'.  One of the Apostles, come to betray Jesus' love - with a kiss!

But the Devil doesn't hold all the aces.  Look up and see the steady hand of the Father, united with the whole trinity.  We know the victory belongs to The Lamb of God, so let's join the Angel lending support and encouragment to Jesus in His loneliest hour: let's give our Yes to Jesus, and our No to the ways of the Devil.  For Jesus is our great Hope and ultimate purpose in life.  Yet it remains for us to become the hope in His purpose!

This last point is not just clever words.  There's a great mystery here - deserving our meditation.  God transcends time, and the Eucharist reaches across the boundary of the altar to the actual crucifixion itself.  Your Yes can make a difference in the Garden of Gethsemany.  What will you do?